'The Hurt Locker' Edges Out Blockbuster 'Avatar' in Oscars; No One Film Dominates

In a David-and-Goliath style showdown, "The Hurt Locker" became the lowest-grossing film ever to win the Oscar for best picture, beating out the most successful movie in history, "Avatar" for the film industry's highest honor.

The 82nd Academy Awards included numerous changes, big and small, designed to appeal to a broader audience than usual. Despite the effort to make it an everyman's Oscar ceremony, the top prize ultimately went to "The Hurt Locker," a film which has grossed just over $19 million world-wide.

"The Hurt Locker" and "Avatar" came into the awards with nine nominations apiece. "Hurt Locker" went home with six, including best director for Kathryn Bigelow, the first time a woman has taken that prize. "Avatar" won three, all related to the film's visuals.

Notwithstanding the face-off between "Avatar" and "The Hurt Locker," the awards managed to acknowledge numerous films, ranging from "The Blind Side" to "The Young Victoria."

Kathryn Bigelow accepts the Oscar for Best Director. Associated Press

"Precious" emerged as the night's little film that could, taking home a pair of prizes, including best adapted screenplay, a category in which it upset front runner "Up in the Air." Other surprise wins included best foreign film, in which "The Secret in Their Eyes" of Argentina beat out front runners "A Prophet" and "The White Ribbon;" and "The Blind Side," whose Sandra Bullock beat out Meryl Streep for best actress.

Some show changes were subtle. Presenters announced prizes by saying "The winner is…," instead of the more anodyne customary line "The Oscar goes to…." But the biggest shift was that the Academy doubled the number of best-picture nominees to ten. The last time the Oscars featured ten nominees, in 1943, "Casablanca" won.

"The industry has become about big films and small films," said Ashok Amritraj, a film producer and chairman of Hyde Park Entertainment. "But because the studios are spending so big on their blockbusters, it's so easy these days for smaller films to get lost."

Independent films have become more of a gamble for Hollywood, as financing has dried up and studios ramp up the amount they spend to promote their sure-fire blockbusters.

"You have to spend so much more just to get an audience to find your film," Mr. Amritraj added. "It's a miracle that a film like 'The Hurt Locker' can still break through the competition to get the attention of an audience—and in this case, it happens to be a very important audience: academy voters."

Expanding the best-picture-nominees field was just one attempt to catch fire with a broader public. When "Titanic" won in 1998, the Oscars had around 55 million viewers. That number has steadily fallen, and last year only 36.7 million watched "Slumdog Millionaire" take home the best picture statuette. That was an improvement on 2008, when the even-less-glamorous "No Country for Old Men" took the top honor.

Instead of the usual performance of each best original song nominee, the show included only brief snippets of each song, a move that was designed to speed up the program and make room for descriptions of the additional best-picture contenders.

The show slimmed down the usual lengthy self-congratulating among film-industry insiders. The lifetime-achievement award, usually a lengthy presentation during the telecast, was instead bestowed in a separate ceremony, of which just a few snippets were shown. B-movie king Roger Corman was the recipient of this year's prize.

Some such elements remained intact. The traditional homage to dead members of the film making community featured a performance by James Taylor, singing the Beatles' "In My Life." And Molly Ringwald and Matthew Broderick took the stage to narrate a lengthy homage to director John Hughes, who died last year.

The program also featured a montage paying tribute to horror movies like "Jaws" and "Nightmare on Elm Street"— films are often much more popular than the highbrow fare that wins Oscars. Breakdancing-inspired choreography accompanied the nominations for best score.

Announcing the best makeup nominees, Ben Stiller appeared on stage with his face painted blue like the alien characters from "Avatar."

"This seemed like a better idea in rehearsals," Mr. Stiller joked. "I will try to stand as far away from [the winners] as possible so as not to demean their moment of triumph." The prize went to "Star Trek."

Despite the measures used to speed up the program, cohost Steve Martin could not resist poking fun at the length of the show. "'Avatar' now takes place in the past," Mr. Martin cracked as the show wrapped up.

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.